Bittersweet
by naisha9408
Summary: Rory experiences sadness, anger and humiliation on the happiest day of her life, only to come out better than before.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing…

 _ **Bittersweet**_

She smoothed her hands over her dress, looking at herself in the mirror. She smiled brightly as her mom joined her in the room.

"This is it babe." Lorelai said and walked to her. "Are you ready?"

Rory turned and looked at her, nodding her head. "I am mom. I love him and this is what I really want."

Lorelai nodded, giving her a smile before kissing her cheek. "I'm going down now, Chris is waiting for you outside, okay?"

Rory nodded with a smile. "See you out there." She said and turned to look at herself for the last time before walking out of the door, meeting her dad with a bright smile. "Hi dad."

Chris looked at her, misty-eyed and shot her a solemn smile. "I can't believe my little girl is getting married." He said and offered her his arm.

She smiled at him, looping her arm through his and they walked to the front of the church in silence. She looked around the room, seeing Paris, Lane and her mother, frantically talking on their phones, but stopping as they saw her. She shot them a confused smile.

"Why are you talking on the phone? We're going down the aisle in a minute." She asked playfully, but felt fear rush through her. They all looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "Okay, someone tell me what's going on."

Paris was the first to step forward. "He's not here."

"Who's not here?" She asked even more confused now.

"Logan." Lane said quietly, and she felt her heart stop. He wasn't here? Did something happen to him? Why wasn't he here?

"What?" She asked, choking slightly, feeling her eyes tear up. "Did something happen to him?" She asked with a calm that she really didn't feel. She looked at the other women in the room. "Give me a phone!" She said frantically, getting her mom's phone and dialed his number. She let it ring out and heard his voice tell her he couldn't come to the phone. She stared at the other people in the room, reality setting in. She dropped her arms to her sides, her bouquet falling to the floor as the tears began falling. "I have to get out of here." She said and turned around, briskly walking to the door, hearing her friends following her, as her parents told her they would take care of the guests and meet her after. She nodded numbly, as she felt Paris and Lane get her outside and in a limo, asking the driver to get to Stars Hollow.

She sat in the limo, quietly crying and looking out of the window as the reached her hometown. She saw her childhood home and quickly got out of the car, running to her house, Lane and Paris right behind her as she walked into her room and frantically began trying to get out of the intricate dress. She felt calm hands coming to her aid, and knew it was Paris. She gave up on trying to do it herself, and just stood numbly, looking at the mirror and her ruined make-up, as Paris got her out of her wedding-dress.

When she was left in nothing but her underwear, Paris left her to get some clothes on. She felt herself go on autopilot, not feeling a thing as she walked into the kitchen, getting handed a cup of coffee. She looked down at it, and for the first time in her life she didn't want coffee. She shook her head and walked to the cabinet, where she knew her mother stashed the alcohol and took out a bottle of vodka, drinking straight from the bottle, trying to drown out the dull ache she felt in her heart.

 _ **XXX**_

Rory groaned as she sat up the next morning, wincing when the sun hit her eyes. She couldn't remember what happened. She looked around the room. Oh, right. Logan didn't show up at the church, Stars Hollow and a lot of her mom's vodka, straight from the bottle.

She let her legs hit the floor before she slowly stood up, feeling a wave of nausea hit her and she steadied herself and closed her eyes, before walking to the kitchen. She slowly looked around the room, seeing her mom and friends sit at the table, quietly talking animatedly about something.

"What's going on?" She croaked and they all snapped to look at her.

Her mother shot her a small comforting smile, before frowning and hiding a newspaper behind her. Rory scrunched her brows together and looked confused at her mother. "What are you doing, mom?" She asked and walked to her, quickly snatching the paper from her and read what she knew her mom had tried to hide from her.

 _Huntzberger leaves Gilmore at the altar._

She read the headline and looked down at the picture of them together, right below it, before her eyes ran down the paper and saw a picture of her leaving the church in tears, Paris and Lane looking at her frantically. She crumbled the paper together, throwing it in the sink before looking at her mom. "How did you get that?"

Lorelai looked at her with sympathy. "Emily sent it over. The one paper the Huntzbergers doesn't own."

Rory nodded, feeling bile rise in her throat, now that the whole east coast knew about her being left by the man she loved. She quickly dashed for the bathroom, feeling the need to empty her stomach and try to leave behind the feeling of dread, as everyone now knew what had happened. She didn't want their pity or condolences.

She flushed the toilet after making sure she didn't have anything else in her stomach and sat down besides it, crying loudly as her mom and friends came into the room. She looked up at them with tears all over her cheeks and a blurred vision. "I can't be here. I can't stay here while they report about my failed life." She said crying loudly and felt her mom envelope her in a tight hug. She looked up at Paris and Lane. "Can you get out of work?" She asked them and they nodded. "I'm calling Gramps and Grammy. I'm leaving the state, maybe the country for a while."

Lorelai looked at her. "Babe, I can't just leave the inn."

Rory nodded. "I know. That's why Paris and Lane are going with me, mom. It's fine. We'll talk on the phone and I'll wallow when we get out of here, I promise. I just… I can't be here anymore, I need to leave and not know what people are saying about me."

Lorelai nodded as Paris and Lane told her they would be back after calling who they needed to get out of things, and Rory squeezed her mom for a second before standing up and walking to their phone, dialing the familiar number, dreading what they would have to say.

 _ **XXX**_

Rory stared at her cell phone, looking as it kept lighting up, showing _his_ name and picture. After the fifth call, she got up from the chair at the café and threw the offending object in the fountain, leaving behind a shocked Lane and frustrated Paris. She turned to them again, giving them a smile before looking around the street, taking in the atmosphere.

They'd been in Rome for three days now. The first two she spent in their hotel suite, eating everything the room service menu offered and watched all the rom-coms on pay-per-view, while crying her eyes out, before Paris had had enough and dragged her out of their suite and to lunch, giving her, her cell phone and telling her that _he_ had called her continuously since they arrived.

She walked back to their table. "We're shopping." She declared and waved over a waiter to pay their bill, before waving down a cab and getting them to the right place for her retail-therapy.

Rory looked around the street of high-end stores and smiled, before pulling her friends into a store, being greeted by a snobby-looking woman. Rory smiled pleasantly at her, before declining the offer of help and went to look around the store herself, Paris and Lane behind her.

"What are you going to do, Gilmore?" She asked and Rory rolled her eyes, choosing not to reply. "He's not going to stop calling, and soon he'll find out where you are and come here."

Rory turned to look at her, holding up a red dress in front of Lane. "He's not going to find us. Gramps and Grammy promised that, Paris." She said before turning to look at Lane. "Go try this on, Lane." She said and hurried her to the dressing rooms, before continuing looking around the store, finding several other pieces she wanted either for herself or her friends.

Paris glared at her as she shooed her into the dressing room with a dress, as she walked into another dressing room, trying on the dark-blue slim dress she had found. She walked out of the room, demanding her friends to come out and show her their dresses. Lane walked out with a shy smile on her lips before pushing up her glasses and Paris walked up to her with an eye-roll. Rory smiled at them before nodding to herself, clapping her hands. "I think we found some dresses!" She said excitedly and walked into the dressing room again to change into her own clothes, before either Lane or Paris could say anything about her statement.

She held onto their dresses as she walked to the saleswoman, who looked at her unimpressed with a raised brow. "These are expensive." She said in an accent and Rory shot her a fake smile, cocking her head to the side and nodded, as she handed over her AMX Black Card and the saleswoman looked at her with wide eyes before hurriedly taking the clothes from her and packing them in bags.

Rory turned to smirk at a shocked Lane and a bored Paris. "Do you always get that reaction?" Lane asked and Paris looked at her.

"Of course. Have you seen the card she handed over?" Paris asked and Lane shrugged.

"I don't see the big deal about it, Paris." She answered.

"Let's just say that the card Gilmore handed over is a sign of status all over the world. She could practically buy this little store if she wanted too, and still go out and buy a new jet." Paris said bored as the saleswoman hurried back to them with their bags and Rory's card.

"Please excuse my earlier remarks, Miss." She said as Rory took back her card with a smile. "Let us know if there is anything else we can help you with." She said and Rory nodded before they walked out of the store and into the next.

 _ **XXX**_

"We're going to London." She said as she walked into their suite two days later, having just hung up the phone after a talk with her grandparents. "The jet is ready and there will be a car for us in an hour. Pack what you need; we'll buy the rest there. Grammy will have someone pick up the rest and ship it home but I would suggest we find bug hats and sunglasses." She said off handedly as she began packing her essentials.

"I only have three more days before I have to get back, Gilmore." Paris said as she began packing, Lane just standing there looking at them with wide eyes.

Rory nodded. "Three days in London, Paris and then we're headed home, I promise." She said and turned to Lane and smiled. "Don't get shocked, Lane. Just pack what you need and we'll find some hats and sunglasses for us to wear."

"Why?" She asked confused.

Paris snorted. "You'll see." She said cryptically and Rory shrugged.

"You'll appreciate it when we land in London." Rory said softly before turning back to her packing.

"Why the sudden change of venue, Gilmore?" Paris asked as the butler took their things down to the car and they checked everything over once more.

She shrugged. "Felt like I needed something else other than Rome." Rory said simply and headed out of the suite and towards the elevator. She turned to look if they were following her, and she held the elevator for them and she pushed the button for the ground floor. "Now, we just need to make one stop to find the hats and sunglasses. I'm thinking Dior?" She said and smiled lightly at them, as she walked out of the elevator and to the waiting town car.

 _ **XXX**_

She sighed as they landed in London, putting on her oversized hat and sunglasses before looking at Lane, who was looking at her hat and sunglasses with a confused expression.

"I still don't get it, Rory." She said and Paris scoffed.

"Just wear them, Lane." She said gruffly as she put on her own sunglasses and stood up, as the door was opened and the stairs descended from the plane. Rory stood up, holding a hand for Lane as she put on her hat and pocketing her own glasses.

The three girls walked to the door, Rory taking a deep breath before she headed out first and was overwhelmed by the many flashes and shouted questions as she fought her way to the waiting SUV. She saw the driver push away some of the paparazzi's and she smiled at him gently as she jump into the backseat, quickly followed by her friends and the driver began pulling away from the plane and the many flashes.

"Whoa." Lane said awestruck, looking out of the tinted windows and Rory laughed softly.

Paris pulled off her hat and sunglasses, as did the others and looked sternly at Rory. "Where are we staying, because you know that we can't be in a hotel this time."

Rory nodded. "We're staying at Trix apartment, Paris. Don't worry, the maids are expecting us."

Lane turned to look at her. "Trix, as in your great-grandmother?"

She nodded again. "Yep." She said simply and turned to look at the driver. "We'd like to do a little shopping before going home, Charlie." She said kindly and the man nodded.

"Of course, Miss." He said. "Bond Street?"

Rory laughed. "Yes. And you know you can just call me Rory, Charlie."

The man only nodded with a smile on his lips, driving through the streets of London to get them to their destination.

"Here we are Mi-Rory." Charlie corrected and hopped out of the car to open the door for them.

The girls got out of the car and Rory turned to look at him. "I'll call when we're ready to go home, Charlie." She said and quickly said goodbye and walked with Paris and Lane to the nearest designer-shop, as Paris was furiously typing away on her cell phone and Lane was looking around the street in wonder.

Rory walked into Prada, followed closely by Lane and Paris and she turned to them. "Now that we're here, I was forced to have tea with some of the family's old friends and you're coming with, so we need acceptable outfits, okay?" She said as a saleswoman came over and helped them find their respective outfits for the next day. Rory sighed as she pulled out her card and handed over to the woman, who smiled widely at her and Rory turned to take Paris' phone and call Charlie to come pick them up. As they got their bags and walked out of the store and towards the parked SUV, she frowned. "I really don't want tea tomorrow." She said and turned to Paris.

"Too bad, Gilmore." Paris said bored. "You were the one who wanted to go to London."

Lane nodded with a bright smile. "But I love it! I've seen two countries within a week!"

Rory laughed at her and shook her head as they climbed into the backseat and Charlie drove towards the apartment.

 _ **XXX**_

Rory shifted in her seat as the plane hit the tarmac in Hartford three days later. She was better than when she left, but was still nervous about facing the society-world again. Lane looked at her and put a soothing hand on her arm. "It's going to be okay, Rory."

Rory nodded, not really taking in her words as the plane stopped rolling and pulled on the required hat and sunglasses, as did her friends as she walked to the door, stopping to thank the pilot and crew for the trip.

She stepped out of the jet, her face expressionless as she walked down the stairs and towards the waiting town car, the paparazzi's snapping their pictures, trying to get closer to her but the driver rescued her, like always.

The drive back to Stars Hollow was quiet, except for Paris telling the driver she needed him to drive her to New Haven afterwards, the driver giving her a nod.

She sighed. She knew she had to do a lot of things when she got back to her mom's house, things she was dreading but needed to be done, like sending back all the wedding-gifts. She watched as they drove by the welcome sign and towards the Crap Shack, her mom standing on the porch, waiting for them. She smiled to herself, feeling much lighter about being there again after her trip to Europe. It had helped her a lot, not being able to hear or read anything about Logan and her, giving her some time for herself and her friends to get back up again.

Rory jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped and ran to her mom, being enveloped in a tight hug for several minutes, before Lane cleared her throat as the car drove off again, Paris waving out of the window. Rory smiled at her mom, before saying bye to Lane and walked into the house, her mom behind her.

"How was it, sweets?"

"It actually helped a lot that I didn't hear or see anything about Logan or my failed wedding. I wallowed, shopped, ate and drank coffee." She said with a small smile.

Lorelai nodded. "That's good, babe." She said and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "My mother took care of all the wedding-stuff, so you don't need to worry about any of that."

"So… no wedding-gifts to send back or anything?"

Her mom shook her head. "Nope. Emily Gilmore of all people did it all herself."

Rory laughed softly. "That's nice of Grandma, mom. I kind of dreaded having to do that."

"What about an apartment, honey?" Lorelai asked softly. "You and Logan lived in his in New York."

Rory nodded. "I'm thinking of buying my own, actually. I can live here while I find one, right?" She asked with wide eyes, pleading for something she knew her mom would never say no to.

Lorelai laughed. "Of course, babe."

She smiled and hugged her mom again. "Thanks mommy." She said quietly and rested her head on her mom's shoulder. "Now I just need my stuff from Logan's."

 _ **XXX**_

She looked around her new apartment in New York. She'd bought it all on her own, her grandparents only helping her with the paperwork, but it was hers. She smiled as she looked around it. It was furnished; curtsey of Emily, and all she needed now was her clothes and other stuff that had been locked away in Logan's apartment.

There was a knock on the door and she opened it with a bright smile, greeting her mom, Luke, Lane, Paris and Doyle with quick hugs as they walked out of her apartment and building towards the cars they'd brought to go get the rest of her stuff from Logan. She just hoped he hadn't thrown it out or something in the month since he failed to show up at their wedding.

She felt more normal now. She had her own place, she had returned to her job at the Times and was slowly getting into a new routine, one without Logan. She had caught herself actually being happy over the week, laughing at stupid jokes and she knew she was slowly getting better.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when they stopped in front of Logan's building, and her mom turned to look at her. "You ready to do this, sweets?"

Rory nodded determinedly. "Let's get it over with, right?"

Lorelai smiled and they got out of the cars, her friends behind her as she walked into the lobby, greeting the wide-eyed doorman and took the elevator to the penthouse.

She stopped in front of the door, holding the key in her hand, taking a deep breath, feeling a soothing hand on her shoulder and she unlocked the door. As the door was opened she was met with a funky smell, the living room completely trashed and some of her clothes scattered around the room. She walked in and noticed the sleeping figure on the couch. She walked closer, seeing Logan laying there, her nightshirt under his head as he snored. She looked around, finally seeing all the empty liquor-bottles scattered around the couch and she felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't know if she was ready to talk to him again, and apparently her mother noticed this, because she pulled her back. "Go to the office and take what you need in there and wait in the car, Rory. We'll get the rest, okay?"

Rory nodded and walked to the office, taking a box with her for her books and small things in there, as the rest of them scattered around the apartment, collecting her things as quietly as possible, so not to wake Logan.

She looked around the room again, making sure she hadn't missed anything before she walked into the living room again, carrying her box. "There's two more boxes in there with my books." She said quietly to Paris who nodded and motioned for her to walk out of the door. Rory nodded back at her and walked to the door, a box in her arms and tried to open it. She finally got the door open and walked out, shutting it slowly behind her and looked towards the elevator as it opened.

She widened her eyes at the sight of Colin and Finn, her friends and Logan's best friends. She took a breath and began walking towards the elevator, hoping they wouldn't notice her and would keep talking between the two of them, as they walked to his apartment. As they came closer to her, she began walking faster, hoping to catch the elevator down. She practically ran past the two of them, not looking back or greeting them as she reached the just closed elevator.

"Love?" Finn asked and she remained standing in front of the steel-doors, pushing the button angrily. She ignored them, didn't turn around or anything, hoping they would leave and not let Logan know about her being there. "Rory." She heard him say and she took a deep breath before turning around and looking at them.

"What?" She asked harshly and the two just stared at her. She huffed, turning around again and kept pushing the button for the elevator.

"What are you doing here?" Colin asked and she scoffed before turning to them again.

"What do you think I'm doing here, Colin?"

"Did you talk to Logan, love?" Finn asked.

She raised a brow. "Why would I ever do that, Finn? I came for my stuff, and that's all I want. I'm not here to talk to him."

Colin shook his head, not saying anything as he walked towards Logan's apartment and Rory looked at Finn.

"Did you want anything else, Finn?" She asked after staring at him in silence for a moment. "Because I really need to get down to the car with my stuff."

"He's miserable, love."

She scoffed. "Right." She said sarcastically. "He left me alone with a church full of people. Note that _he_ did this, not me Finn."

"He's been doing nothing else but drinking and sleeping with your clothes, saying it smells like you." He said and eyed her carefully and she heard frantic footsteps from the apartment and a disheveled Logan appeared and looked at her with sorrow.

She shook her head and turned to look at the elevator, seeing it was almost there. She breathed deeply, telling herself she could do it. She could confront him if he talked to her. She heard fast footsteps coming up behind her, but she remained standing with her back to him.

"Ace…" He croaked, his voice full of sleep and probably hoarse from a hangover.

"Don't call me that!" She spat and turned to look at him angrily. "What do you want, Logan?!"

"I-I…" He started but sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry." He said simply, looking at her with pleading eyes.

She huffed. "Sorry doesn't do shit, Logan." She said harshly. "You left me… at the church for our wedding! Do you really think I give a damn about how sorry you are?!" She shouted angrily before taking a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "How could you do this? How could you do this to me? I didn't even deserve a call or note, or something saying you wouldn't be there?! Am I really that unimportant to you?!" She asked loudly before looking at Colin and Finn. "And how could you two let him do this? I know you were with him. The least you could've done was get him to tell me instead of just letting me think it was fine." She said calmly and looked at Logan and shook her head. "So, you see I don't care about how sorry you are, Logan. I care about how humiliated I was, how I was the one that had to run from that goddamn church, getting spotted and put on a fucking newspaper for the world to see me, at my lowest!"

The three stood there staring at her as the bell for the elevator sounded and she exhaled, backing into it and pushing the button for the ground floor. Just as the doors was about to close, Logan stepped into the elevator with her and the doors closed behind him.

"Ac-" He said and she snarled.

"Don't!"

"Rory." He started and looked at her. "I'm so sorry. I know that I can't ever make up for what I did, believe me-"

"Then what the hell are you doing here, Logan?" She interrupted, but he kept talking.

"But I realized I wasn't ready for this. For a wedding, a marriage. I know I should have talked to you about it, about how afraid I was that it would change everything. I know I was the worst person on the earth to do this to you, Rory." He said and took a step towards her. "But I couldn't change everything. I love how we were before everything and I didn't want to lose that. I was afraid, and I'm sorry for that."

She shook her head, feeling tears in her eyes. "It doesn't matter anymore."

He looked at her frantically. "Please Ace. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! Don't let it change us. I love you, only you. We can do this. Work this out, everything will be like it was before." He pleaded, moving closer to her.

She let the tears fall from her eyes. "I can't Logan. You broke my heart." She said and looked him in the eyes. "You broke _me_." She said quietly and she saw his heart shatter, his eyes showing his internal pain perfectly clear. "This will never go back to what we had before."

"No!" He said frantically. "Ace please. Don't leave us, we can make it through this."

She shook her head, holding on to her box tighter. "You've put me through so much, Logan but this… this is the worst thing you've _ever_ done. There is no coming back from this. Not now. Not ever. We're over; you did that. You left me at the church without so much as an explanation. You left me to handle everything with that wedding when you left, how do you think I felt when I got to the church and you weren't there? When you didn't answer your phone? I had to flee the country, Logan! I couldn't be here; everyone was talking about me! I was in the freaking newspaper, running from my own wedding in tears, Logan! How would you feel if I did that to you? In front of your family? Friends? In front of the whole goddamn world, Logan!" She said, her voice shaking slightly and the doors opened to the lobby. She pushed out of the elevator, not looking back at him, afraid she would break if she did.

 _ **XXX**_

Rory scoffed and threw the paper away from her and it landed on the floor of her office. It had been two years after the disaster that was her wedding and she still didn't even have a boyfriend. Her phone rang and she answered it quickly.

"I'm sorry about Huntzberger." Paris said and Rory quirked a brow.

"Are you really?" She asked bored.

"No." Came the quick reply. "He's a no-good trust fund baby and you should be happy that he didn't show up at the church. It could be you that was stuck with that dimwit now."

Rory laughed despite the situation. "Yeah, you're probably right. The new fiancée looks super blonde and super trophy-wife."

"Dodged a bullet there, Gilmore."

She nodded her head. "Most likely, but it still hurts that he's engaged again and I don't even have a boyfriend, Paris." She heard her scoff over the phone and smiled, knowing that Paris was rolling her eyes at her.

"I give that marriage six months before one or both have cheated and a year tops, before the divorce happens."

"Alright." Rory said with a smile. "To be honest… I don't really care, I'm over him and what he did."

"That's good."

"I know." She said and sighed. "You're coming tonight, right?"

"Of course." Paris answered right away. "Doyle too."

"I'm glad I can count on you and Doyle being there."

"It's a big night, Gilmore. You're finally coming out to the world."

"You make me sound lesbian, Paris."

"Aren't we all a little lesbian, Rory?" She asked. "I distinctly remember a kiss during spring break our freshman year."

"That was you! You kissed me to get free drinks!" Rory exclaimed loudly but with a smile on her face. "Don't put that on me."

"Right." Paris said. "I need to get back to my patients. I'll see you tonight, Gilmore."

Rory nodded. "Bye Paris." She said and hung up the phone, looking around her office. She hoped no one would treat her differently after tonight. She was ready for everyone to know about her and she was going to do it with pride and her head held high in front of everyone. In front of the entire Hartford society, that knew about her scandals.

 _ **XXX**_

She looked around the intricately decorated room, frowning quickly as she didn't recognize any of the people there. She looked around the room, hoping to find a familiar face, hell just someone she could actually remember having met.

"Miss Gilmore." Said a voice behind her and she turned around, society smile in place. She looked the man over, wondering how he knew her. He was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and wearing the perfect suit. She offered her hand.

"Hello." She said, slightly hesitant. She felt there was something familiar about him, but couldn't quite place him.

He smirked at her. "I thought you would remember me, Mary."

She lost her smile and her eyes widened. "Tristan?" She asked with a frown and he nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry… I just didn't recognize you right away." She offered with a small smile as he kissed her knuckles and chuckled.

"I'm hurt, Mare!" He said and pouted. "I thought I was memorable, but I guess not."

She laughed softly. "Can you really blame me? We haven't seen each other in, what? Seven years?" She asked with a smile and he nodded.

"I think it's right about seven years, yes." He said and looked around the room. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "My grandparents thought I should come, so I did." She said and looked at him with a quirked brow. "What are you doing here?"

"Business." He said shortly.

"Really? That's so interesting." She said sarcastically. "How are you, Tristan?" She asked genuinely.

"I'm good, Rory." He said and smiled at her. "Working for the family-firm in New York, went to Princeton and all. Basically became my father's wet dream."

She chuckled. "That sounds nice?" She asked with a wide smile. "How was North Carolina?"

He mock-gasped. "You don't remember me, but remember where I was shipped off to? Now I'm definitely feeling hurt, Mary."

"Shut up." She said playfully.

"North Caroline was good. Gave me a sense of reality. Made me realize I couldn't do whatever I wanted and gave me killer-abs." He said with a slight smirk and she scoffed playfully. "What about you?"

"Graduated valedictorian, went to Yale and lived with Paris for most of that time, became engaged to Logan Huntzberger, got a job at the Times, got left by Logan and now I'm standing here talking to my old high school bully." She said with a smile as Paris walked up to them.

"Dugrey." She greeted him with a nod.

"Paris." He said and smiled before turning to look at Rory again. "It was good seeing you, Mary." He said and walked towards some older men, probably his business for the night.

"Why are you catching up with Dugrey of all people, Gilmore?"

She shrugged. "He started it, Paris. I didn't recognize him and we just talked a little, it's no big deal."

"Dugrey has always been a big deal, Rory." Paris said and walked over to Doyle and Rory rolled her eyes as a tap on the microphone quieted the room down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the party. My wife and I are very thrilled that you could all be here to witness this joyous occasion. As you all know, none of us is getting younger and we all want to see our businesses and legacies being handed over to the next generation. It is with this in mind that I, along with my dear wife, would like to introduce you all to our granddaughter and heiress." Her grandfather said and looked over the room, before smiling at her. "Lorelai, would you come up here?"

She nodded and made her way towards them, hearing small gasps and murmurs throughout the guests. She walked up besides her grandfather and he hugged her quickly, before her grandmother hugged her tightly and they turned to the waiting guests.

"Many of you already know our granddaughter as Rory Gilmore, Richard and Emily's granddaughter. However, she is also Lorelai Hayden, the sole heiress to mine and Francine's estate, our granddaughter." Straub said with a smile and she smiled back at him. "This was all. We hope you enjoy your evening, thank you for the attention." He said and put down the microphone.

Rory looked over the room, seeing some shocked faces, Colin and Finn's included. She smirked inwardly and wondered how long it would take for Colin to tell Logan, but also how long it would take them to come up and ask why she never told them.

She walked through the room, getting congratulations from people she never knew, questions about her carrier and when she would take over the firm. She never had any intentions of being in law, but would oversee everything regarding the firm, which she told them and that her grandparents were very aware of that fact.

"Lorelai Hayden." She heard him say from behind her. "That's new, huh Finn?" He said sarcastically and she turned around and shot them a fake smile.

"What, Colin?" She asked before smirking. "You thought my father was the pool-boy or something? I never hid that my father was Christopher Hayden. You just never asked about him."

Finn smirked at her. "No matter now, love." He said and slung an arm around her shoulders. "You're a heiress now, you should do what a heiress does."

She chuckled and looked at him. "And what would that be, Finn?"

"Getting smashed and buying a little island in the pacific, of course." He said and clapped his hands. "Or just make good use of that new Black Card of yours and buy me a drink."

She laughed and shrugged his arm off her shoulder. "I've had a Black Card since high school, Finny." She teased with a grin. "And I've been an heiress since I was born. I just made the deal that they wouldn't announce it before I was 25 and had my degree."

Finn gasped and mockingly held his heart. "How could you not tell me this, love?" He said exasperatedly and she laughed, before Colin huffed.

"You never told Logan."

She shook her head. "Again, he never asked Colin." She said simply. "But you're welcome to tell him if you want. It doesn't change the fact that I would have told you, if you had asked about it."

Colin was about to throw another scathing comment at her as she heard him from behind her.

"Well well well, Mary." Tristan said and she smirked before turning to look at him. "That was quite the surprise. I see now why your grandparents wanted you here." He said amused.

She shrugged. "Yeah, well. What could I do? They insisted, really." She said with a grin, as Colin cleared his throat and she rolled her eyes. "Colin, Finn. This is Tristan. Tristan, this is Colin and Finn." She introduced.

Colin offered his hand, Tristan shaking it. "Colin McCrea." He said and Tristan nodded. "Tristan Dugrey." He said and looked at Finn, who was already making his way to the bar.

"That was Finn Morgan." Rory said and rolled her eyes. "Can't keep his attention for more than five minutes straight."

Tristan chuckled and nodded. "So, Mare. How come I never knew you were the elusive Hayden heiress?"

She shrugged. "No one at Chilton wondered who my family was. You all just assumed I was a scholarship-kid and I never bother to correct you." She said with a smirk. "But I have to say I also wanted to be elusive. Too many camera's and what not around the Haydens."

"Well, that's our mistake I guess." He said with a shrug. "Paris knew."

She nodded. "Yes. Paris has known since freshman year of Yale. Besides, she's one of my best friends."

He laughed. "I bet she knew before that, Mary."

"What's with the 'Mary'-thing?" Colin asked and she turned to look at his stern face, having forgotten he was there.

"It's a Chilton thing, Colin." She said and frowned at him. "Why are you acting like this? Are you really this angry because of my last name?"

"I just think you would've told us, or Logan at least, Rory." He said sternly. "You were going to be married."

She shook her head with a chuckle. "Yeah, but he didn't want that, now did he? You think he would've done it because of my last name? Besides, it doesn't matter, Colin. He's getting married to the perfectly blonde trophy-wife now, aren't you supposed to be happy about that?"

"He's only doing it because of his father, you have to know that." He said and looked at her intensely. "He never meant to leave you."

She laughed again and was about to contradict his statement when Tristan spoke. "Really? He left her with a church full of people, letting her being exposed on his family's many papers and never once came out and told anyone why. It certainly sounds like he didn't want to get married."

Colin turned to glare at him. "You know nothing about the situation, Dugrey. Stay out of it."

"Then don't blame Rory for what _your_ friend did to her." Tristan said calmly. "I also know that you did nothing to stop him from leaving her." Colin scowled at him and Tristan chuckled. "I know Steph." He said, explaining how he knew this.

Rory shook her head. "Why are we rehashing this? It's been two years and I'm happy for him, getting married. He couldn't marry me, which sucked when it happened, but it doesn't matter to me anymore, Colin. Why does this matter to you? You haven't spoken more than a few words to me in the last two years. Not even when Finn did! You chose Logan, and that's okay, but don't blame me for any of this. Just be happy that he's happy."

Colin looked at her for a moment before huffing and walking away. She turned to look at Tristan who smirked at her. "Even when you're a society-bitch, you're still sweet little Mary."

Rory slap his arm teasingly. "You can't really call me that anymore, Bible Boy."

"Bible Boy?"

She smirked. "You used biblical insults in high school. It was a fitting nickname."

"So you called me Bible Boy, Mary?" He asked amused. "I didn't know you thought that much about me."

She shrugged. "Had to have name for you when I would whine about you, Tristan."

He nodded and looked around the room before looking back at her. "Now that we actually can hold a pleasant conversation, how about a dance?" He asked with a smirk and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the dance floor.

"Oh, um, I'm actually a really bad dancer." She said embarrassed before shrugging. "Never something I learned."

"I don't believe that for a minute, Mare." He said and wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her with him as he started to dance. When she'd stepped on his feet for the third time she winced and looked at him, only to see his amused expression.

She sighed. "I told you I couldn't dance. I once tripped Marcy Thompson at a dance recital at Miss Patty's. She's never forgiven me for it."

He laughed. "I can understand Marcy Thompsons reason for not forgiving you. I think my toes hate me at the moment." He said and pulled her closer to him. "Just clear your mind and let me lead, Mary."

She nodded and looked him in the eyes, forgetting everything she was thinking about earlier and let him take complete control of her body and they moved flawlessly together over the floor. She smiled at him, for the first time in a long time feeling completely calm in someone's arms and she saw his eyes study her, with a gleam in his eyes she couldn't interpret.

She didn't see anything but him at the moment. Didn't notice how several people was looking at them, and she couldn't really care about it either. She felt happy, calm, at ease and she loved that feeling. The only thing she _was_ surprised about was with whom she felt all those things. She would have _never_ thought that Tristan Dugrey, Bible Boy, Evil Tristan, Spawn of Satan, would be able to elicit those feelings in her.

 _ **XXX**_

"Is he serious?" She asked as she walked into her apartment, looking at the offending piece of mail.

"What?" Came the reply as Tristan walked out of the kitchen and kissed her softly.

"We haven't spoken in three years, he left me at the church and he sends me an invitation for his wedding to the dumbest blonde in Hartford!" She said, waving the invitation in front of his face. "I mean, what the hell is that?!"

He looked at her seriously. "Mare… relax, it's probably his mother that wants the Hayden heiress there, and I bet the Huntzbergers doesn't care that she just happens to be you." He said and took the invitation from her, reading it over. "What do you want to do?"

She scoffed. "I want to shove it up his ass." She muttered, before leaning into him. "But I will settle for declining the invitation and send a horrible gift." She said with a small smirk and he chuckled, kissing her temple.

The two stood still for a moment, Rory reveling in the feeling of him around her and she nuzzled her face into his chest, feeling his hands running down her back and through her hair and she hummed in contentment, her eyes closed.

"Talking about Logan's wedding…" He trailed off suddenly and she frowned and pulled away from him.

"Yeah?" She said uncertainty.

"How would you feel about, maybe, moving in together?" He asked in a rare moment of vulnerability and she recognized that he had put himself on the line with the chance of getting shot down.

She smiled at him softly. "Are you asking me to move in with you, Tris?" He nodded and she smirked. "Wow, I never thought I'd live to see this day. The king of Chilton, asking a girl to live with him! What has the world become?!" She said dramatically, trying to ease the mood.

"Rory." He said bored and looked at her expectantly and she laughed softly, before nodding.

"Of course I'll move in with you, Tristan. We're always at each other's places either way. People already think we live together, it was just a matter of actually doing it."

He smirked and kissed her briefly. "I think this is cause for celebration, Mary." He said with a wide smirk before pulling her close and kissing her deeply, letting his tongue probe her mouth and she moaned at the feel of him all over her.

She pulled back, breathing harshly. "You do, huh?" She asked with a quirked brow as he pulled her to her bedroom, shutting the door with his foot as he kept kissing her passionately, letting his hands travel over her body, making her clothes disappear along with his.

 _ **XXX**_

"Mary?"

"Hmm?" Rory said absentmindedly as she tapped furiously on her keyboard, Tristan standing in front of her in their shared office of a year.

"Mary." He tried again, but she continued to write her latest article, ignoring him. "Rory."

"Yeah?" She said while frowning quickly at her last paragraph before re-writing it, not looking up at him.

"Are you listening?"

"Mmh."

"I love you."

"You too." She said, focusing on her laptop.

"And I'm pregnant."

"That's nice."

"With Luke's lovechild."

"Sounds good."

"And we're getting married."

"Of course." She said still writing, not noticing his seriousness on the topic, nor really processing what he'd said.

"Good." He said simply and walked out of their office, leaving her to tap away.

She frowned and looked at what she'd wrote. She replayed their conversation in her head and looked up at the door, waiting for him to come back in.

"What?!" She shouted. "What did you just say?"

He came back, smirking. "I'm pregnant with Luke's lovechild?" He asked innocently.

She narrowed her eyes. "After that?"

He leaned against the doorframe. "We're getting married." He said seriously.

Rory stared at him for a moment, blinking rapidly, trying to understand the situation. "Don't you think that was something you should have clued me in on?"

He shrugged with a smirk, walking towards her. "I decided for us."

She nodded. "You maybe want to formulate it like a question?"

He stopped in front of her, pulling out a velvet box, opening the box and taking out the ring, putting it on her finger. "No, I'm good."

She snorted and looked down at her finger. The ring was beautiful and fitted her perfectly. The silver band and the big square diamond in the middle giving off a classic, yet elegant look. She smiled at her hand before looking up at him. "Then I'm good too." She said with a smile and pulled him down for a kiss.

 _ **XXX**_

"Oh god." She groaned and rested her head on her arms, the bile in her throat still threatening to shoot out and she threw up again. She felt a soothing hand on her lower back and one holding her hair. She turned slowly and smiled at her husband of two months.

"We're going to the doctor tomorrow, Mary." He said sternly and she nodded weakly.

"I don't know what's wrong, Tris." She said meekly and turned her head to throw up again.

He shushed her and helped her up from the floor, handing her a glass of water and guided her to their bedroom to rest. "Just relax and I'll handle everything, Mare."

She nodded and felt her eyes close and she fell in a deep sleep.

 _ **XXX**_

She and Tristan sat in the waiting room, reading the paper and she chuckled lowly.

"What's funny?" Tristan asked and she showed him what she laughed at and he shook his head with a smile. "You could _try_ to feel bad for the guy."

She smiled wider. "He got divorced five months after their big society wedding, only to impregnate a bartender now! It's classic Logan, Tris! Mitchum and Shira must be throwing a fit!" She said between laughs as he poked her in the side and she looked up, watching a tired and disheveled Logan walking into the room with a beaming and smug brunette by his side.

He looked right at her and she smiled politely at him, resting her hands on her swollen belly and he looked at her shocked before sighing and dragging the brunette with him.

"Lorelai Dugrey!" The nurse called and she and Tristan stood up, walking by Logan.

"Hey Logan." She said in greeting and nodded at the shocked brunette and was pulled with Tristan into an examination room. She laughed loudly as the door was closed behind her. "Did you see his face, Tris? It was so funny!"

Tristan rolled his eyes. "How can you still be well-liked in society when you do stuff like that? I open a safe and everyone stamps me as a criminal. Rory behaves like a snooty little girl around Logan Huntzberger and she is _still_ the poster-child for Hartford."

She smiled at him lovingly and kissed him softly. "Because I'm sweet. And you didn't open the safe, you broke into the safe."

"I had a key. I opened it."

She snorted. "Broke into it, key or no key." She said and kissed him again. "Besides it doesn't matter how horrible I act towards Logan or talk about him. He left me at the altar. I can pretty much do whatever I want to him and still be considered sweet."

He groaned. "Why did I marry you again?"

"Because you love me and I love you." She stated and kissed him again, harder this time and only pulled away from him when the doctor cleared her throat behind them and she smirked at him. "Let's save the rest for later, Tris."


End file.
